Couple of hours ago, on the same day.
Upon the great wide grassfield far to the south of the kingdom's capital, a small army of around two thousand poorly equipped levies marched out in a sparse and chaotic formation, led by an inexperienced young Baron from Central Middenland. They were one of many probing forces sent out by the Prince Gardner to gauge his sister's flank guard capabilities. The plan was for him to secretly go far down south to the Suddenland-Middenland border and then march up north to test the Princess's southern flank. For the main fighting force of the Prince now marchs northward to harass Princess's supporter main holdout of Nordenland as a whole, in an unexpected surprise attack.
And as the small army of this inexperience Baron marched it's way through the Suddenland, they began the process of plundering for loot from day one of the conflict.
They confiscated food supplies, stole horses, pack animals, and even valuables. All of this was allowed to happen due to the overall uncaring attitude of the commander of this particular army, who thought of it as a necessity in wartime to secure supplies for his troops for the coming fight. (And also to gain some profit from this expensive war.)
But the fight he anticipated came sooner than he expected, though not in the way he had thought at all.
The Suddenland Baron, the lord of the land they were plundering, rushed out with his own hurriedly assembled army of equally poorly equipped levies. Even though he held a neutral position in the war and had no plan to fight, when bandits came to ravage his land, he was obliged to protect it. And so two equally poorly equipped forces ended up in an unannounced local conflict that would claim many lives that should not have been lost in the first place.
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Not a hundred percent identical, but situations like this were happening all over the Kingdom. Localized conflicts spread like wildfire, caused by countless reasons ranging from multigenerational family disputes to absurdly stupid coincidences that somehow escalated into full-blown battles.
In response, the overall structure of the Kingdom's society scrambled to rearrange itself to survive the now raging civil war. Some sided with the Prince, some with the Princess, and some chose to remain neutral or even go rogue in hopes of securing their own city-stateship after being inspired by the grand city of Venetia. But no matter their choices, the war would come for them in the end.
As this went on, those who first felt the heat of the conflict were the commoners. As the war intensified, their food was confiscated to feed armies on both sides, while the prices of everything rose as merchants increased the cost of every necessity. Not to mention the growing security problems, as large numbers of guards who normally patrolled were now conscripted to fight in the war. Even worse, different criminal gangs saw the opportunity to run wild, as no one could stop them from spreading their influence like a swarm of ravaging locusts.
The war is raging hot. The famine has yet to come. And unbeknownst to every side in the conflict, the Pox Plague has now awakened from its surprisingly short slumber, ready to spread misery and reap souls once more in the middle of the war. Everyone in the Kingdom shall face this waking nightmare in one way or another. None shall be spared.
For as the Kingdom is set aflame, the only thing that common folk like you and me can do is to smile widely, brace ourselves tight, and "Enjoy the rising flame".